Railways arrests 10,000 unauthorised people

New Delhi: Railways has arrested over 10,000 unauthorised people, including hawkers and vendors, during a fortnight-long drive undertaken as part of its efforts to keep rail premises clear of anti-social elements while ensuring better services to passengers.

Besides, 4,000 persons were caught travelling in women’s compartments and 5,000 were taken to task for causing nuisance at stations and in trains.

The public transporter had launched a massive passenger and customer facilitation campaign last month in an effort to reach out to passengers and address their problems.

“We carried out 4,600 intensive ticket checking drives during the period to curb the menace of ticketless travelling and prohibit the entry of anti-social elements,” said a senior railway official, adding “these drives resulted in detection of 1.6 lakh cases and recovery of Rs 9 crore through penalty”.

While 233 rail projects worth Rs 4,000 crore were commissioned during the period, the campaign also witnessed commencement of 75 projects worth Rs 550 crore, the official added.

The campaign was directed towards improving passenger amenities and services, customer care, participation of passenger and railway staff in various activities and creating awareness among the public about Railways’ initiatives and achievements.

As many as 10,000 unauthorised vendors, hawkers and others were caught at rail premises during the drive, he said.

7,000 stations all over the country were inspected during the drive in the period between May 25 and June 9.

286 touts were arrested during the checking conducted by teams of vigilance officers to deal with the menace of touting.